Joshua Colas may not be a household name to the chess world now, but all indications seem to say that one day he will be one of the brightest stars in U.S. chess. Already touting a 1922 rating at age 10, he is rated #3 in his age group. Josh just competed in the K-12 Championships being held in Florida and scored 6/7 for 2nd-3rd place.

His father Guy Colas is probably rearranging the trophy case and he is building up a sizeable collection in his short career. Kayin Barclay, a former scholastic standout, noticed this game from Colas.

I like the constant hammer blows… one after the other. Josh is very talented! Shortly after meeting him three years ago, I showed him one of my games (a sharp encounter) and he saw most of the attacking ideas. I knew then that I was looking at a future star. He’s arrived! If Haiti needs another player for the next Olympiad, he may be it!

Daaim, The Colas family is indeed doing well, Josh and his father recently played in the National Chess Congress in Philly where Guy Colas went undefeated in the U1600 section! I was fortunate enough to tie for first in the U2000 section. Some of Josh’s games were quite interesting.He’s got a nice little speed chess games,too. Great reporting from Dresden!

So young and so talented. It is also important to note that Josh tied for 1st in the blitz trmt held at the Nationals . He also scored 4/6 in the Open section of chess-in-the-schools tournament held in central park, New York this past Summer; defeating a strong expert along the way.
There is a YouTube posting of that game under: chess/Joshukid–check it out!!

Yes, that’s it. That’s Shawn Martinez he is playing. Arguably the strongest expert in brooklyn. He is a product of I.S. 318/ Madison H.S. chess team ( winners of the Nationals a few years ago with the likes of Alex Lenderman and Sal Bercys).
Daaim, you are certainly on top of your game- having posted the YouTube game so quickly 🙂

[…] New York Times ran an article on the success of the local schools and mentioned that P.S. 116 won the 1st-grade championship; Hunter Elementary won the 2nd grade championship; Horace Mann won both the 4th- and 5th-grade championships; I.S. 318 swept the 6th-8th grades. Josh Colas starred for New York’s Mamaroneck Avenue School and scored 6/7 in the 5th grade section. Mamaroneck came in 2nd behind Horace Mann. […]

A fine game, and my congratulations to Josh for his overall performance to date.

Not sure what Black was thinking when he marooned his QB with 11. … Bh3, and 16. … d5 completely surrenders the dark-square play (and the game, really) to White. Josh did an excellent job of hammering home his advantage after that.

One more note: In my time observing top juniors, I’ve come to believe that a decent junior player has a rating equal to 100x his/her age. I refer to players whose rating exceeds that formula by 100+ points as a “100”, by 200+ points as a “200”, etc. This is useful because a strong, active junior should be able to gain at least 100 points a year, and the higher the “x00”, the better this player’s chances of reaching titled status.

Josh Colas, as of the time of Dr. Shabazz’s original post, appears to be a “1900”. This is, quite frankly, ridiculously strong. I hope to hear a lot more about this young man in the years to come.

Colas rose to become the country’s top-ranked 9-year-old last year, prompting his father to hire a grand master from Kentucky to teach him on the Internet. He’s now the nation’s second ranked 10-year-old.

“I used to train him,” said Joshua’s father, Guy Colas, a 47-year-old accountant who has played in tournaments for years. “But it’s too much now. He’s passed me.”

Joshua Colas spoke softly about his success in one of the world’s most intellectual pursuits and seemed unfazed by his rise to stardom while completing his homework (he says he’s a B student).

Just before he played in the SuperNationals, on 2/26/09 he defeated IM Jay Bonin (2391) in G/30 and on 3/19/09, he drew GM Michael Rhode (2564), G/30 at the Marshall Chess Club. He played up at the SuperNationals in the K-6 Section and got 5/7, with one lost. He went 11/12 to earn third place in the Blitz tournament, also in the k-6 Section. Josh is currently rated 1915 and 1965 unofficially. Take care.